Vocabulary Teaching: Giving Students a Voice

Students completing an activity from Boost Your Vocabulary workbook 1

‘Cultured…Engaged…Informed’. This vision strapline underpins everything we do in my English Department. Vocabulary teaching, naturally, plays an important role in fulfilling this vision. When we spoke to students about the disadvantages that poor vocabulary acquisition brings, the one that came up repeatedly was that of frustration – the inability to communicate that which is in […]

Read more

Readymade Scaffolding: Using the Oxford School Shakespeare GCSE Revision Workbooks

Recently, I’ve been playing around with and using a lot of Oxford University Press Shakespeare materials and resources, which are proving to be excellent. In particular, I’ve been experimenting with their ‘Macbeth GCSE Revision Workbook’ by Graham Elsdon, which is part of the Oxford School Shakespeare series. I’ve been using this in the more traditional […]

Read more

The Reading and Vocabulary Project: What happens as pupils transition from primary to secondary school?

By Jemma Baker, Royal Holloway, University of London New faces. New subjects. New opportunities. Transitioning from primary to secondary school is a big deal for 11-year-olds. For some, it may prove nerve-wracking; for others, exciting. Not only does this transition come with the challenge of adjusting to a new school environment, but also with the […]

Read more